The Lives We Live Aren't Always Perfect
by VictoriaVQ
Summary: Artemis has been known for keeping secrets to herself, but this wasn't supposed to happen. No one was supposed to know she had a family: a husband and a seven year old daughter and lived a lifestyle that was more dangerous than the hero life. So what happens when all unveils and the Team & revived Wally West catches wind of it too? Fate is not kind a soul. What will Artemis do now?


I don't own Young Justice or any of its characters or plot lines, though that would be cool if I did. OC Artemis, Liana, and Raye are mine though. Enjoy! (more notes at bottom)

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February 12, 2017

All that could be heard was the sound of crying—an agonized, painful mixture of sobbing and occasional hiccups; but nonetheless discomforting. Within one of the many rooms located in the Infirmary sat Artemis, parallel to the floor, clutching close to her a little doll lookalike. Heavy droplets fell from her eyes and splattered into the silky cloth the girl was adorned in. The child, about seven years of age, had hot tears spilling down her cheeks, a choking sound escaping her plush lips. Her hands clutched Artemis's blouse tightly as the blonde archer held onto the little girl as if desperate, afraid to lose her precious little one. They had stayed that way for quite a while, about a good twenty minutes—Artemis reckoned—until the sobs began dying down a bit. Hiccups were released, but that didn't drown any of the grief in her young voice. Meanwhile, Artemis simply starred at the body on the bed, her mind hazed yet racing with such speed that even M'gann wouldn't be able to comprehend her thoughts. Too much had happened in so little time and now Artemis was feeling a heavier weight being slammed into her shoulders as reality hit her. It was like being slapped in the face for the first time by your most beloved, which metaphorically speaking, was exactly what happened to this strong willed unbeatable archer.

—

Outside the Infirmary stood Black Canary, Green Arrow, Nightwing, Wally West; their faces filled with a mixture of shock, sadness, and extreme uncertainty. This wasn't supposed to happen...not this way and not this quickly. Silence choked them all and estranged their minds into deep thoughts.

The first thought that came to mind was Artemis and her daughter. How would they be able to handle themselves? Did Artemis even have enough income to support her and the girl? Where would they live? Will she remain with the Team or quit forever? Honestly, none of them knew the answer to any of those questions. As strong and devoted the former protégé was to the hero life, she was still human and had a family to take care of. She couldn't just simply continue working as a hero and leave her four year old daughter estranged. That would be doing the exact same thing—if not worse—than what Sportsmaster had done to her. That wouldn't work out at all.

As they continued to think of the future possibilities for the archer and daughter, a sudden blood-churning scream came from within the medical room. Wally, being the speedster, raced into the Infirmary to find the girl standing and wailing towards the bed where Artemis was. Clocking his head, he saw Artemis leaning over her dead husband, whose once still body was now shaking violently on the bed, as if in a seizure. Since when did dead bodies have seizures? Just as the thought crossed his mind, his body became deathly still once more.

Black Canary and Green Arrow raced to bed, trying to comprehend the situation.

"What happened?" Canary asked.

"H-He just started shaking and then Liana screamed. Then he stopped all of a sudden…oh God, Canary please do something!"

The heroine stood there for a second, her mind speeding through every nook and cranny of her brain trying to figure out what the hell to do. Then in a swift move, she grabbed a syringe from the cabinet and quickly fills it with adrenaline. Green Arrow read her movements and tore open the man's medical shirt.

"Oliver, hold his right arm and shoulder. Nightwing you take the left side. Artemis and Wally—hold down his legs in case he goes into another spasm." Canary quickly scanned their eyes, apprehension and hope lingering in their gazes. Her eyes quickly went to the Liana's, who was still crying in the corner. The heroine let out a deep, confident sigh—hoping that what she was going to do would bring peace back to this torn family. Taking a deep breath, she plunged the syringe into the the patient's chest, quickly but steadily administering the liquid into the ventricular chamber. One, two, three…The seconds passed by agonizingly slow as she counted in her head, her eyes scanning the body for any sign of life. A full minute passes, then thirty seconds more, and now it was two minutes. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, not knowing what would happen next.

Then the spasm ignited.

It wasn't as strong as Artemis had witnessed not a few minutes ago, but it was enough to shock everyone else out of their blank-minded state. They each did what Canary had directed them to do. Canary pulled out the syringe and held the man down at the chest, hoping—praying that what she did would result in something good.

After about another thirty seconds, the spasms died down. His chest moved up and down, at a frantic pace at first, but soon it slowed down to normal. The heroine checked to see if there was breathing and to her relief, she could feel air being inhaled and exhaled. Artemis seemed to pick up on Canary's change in muscle tension as a good sign and prayed silent prayers within her mind. She looked back to her daughter, whom stopped crying and was now starring at the direction of her father's bed, awaiting an answer as well.

As his vital signs were being checked, the heart monitor beeped to life. The sound, monotone as it was, sent shockwaves of relief through everyone in the room. Unknowingly, the released held breaths, and hoped the machine wouldn't go flat anytime soon.

"He looks stable", Canary announced. She looked directly at the young archer. "It's a miracle he's alive. And I believe he will be fine. We will personally be on medical watch over him. Meanwhile", she says pointing her chin to the little girl, "you and your daughter—go find something to eat and rest. You both have had a long day, but now I believe fate is finally on our side." That was when Liana ran up to Artemis and hugged her mother's leg tightly, crying into it.

"I-Is-hic-Raké:ni-hic-going to-hic-be okay-hic, Mẹ?"

Artemis knelt down and scooped her baby girl into her arms, kissed her cheeks, and rested her head on her daughter's. "Yes, Liana, Raké:ni is going to be okay. Everything's okay now."

The other members watched Artemis and her daughter holding each other tightly, sparks of hope evident in their eyes that their family wouldn't be broken. Wally sighed and walked up to them. Artemis and Wally met eye to eye, concern and understanding glinting in the other's orbs. And somewhere deep down they saw hints of guilt and apology trailing not too far behind as well. But that could be resolved later. Hell, they had just brought the dead back from the dead. And at this very moment, Wally couldn't feel more ecstatic to see Artemis and Liana smiling genuinely once again, even if the smile was small and still fragile. Right now, that was all that mattered.

—

Taking Canary's advice, Artemis and Liana went to the kitchen to find much needed nourishment. Although the kitchen is very updated compared to the original version, the newly built Mount Justice still gave off that welcoming and comforting aura that made temporary living here exceptional. The two sat on the island next to each other, eating the bánh hỏi her mother had made the other day. M'gann had baked macadamia cookies, attracting the other Team members in the Cave as well. The pair didn't mind their company, since they helped to distract their minds from the shocking moments of the past few hours. Impulse especially had a fun time entertaining Liana, as she giggled at his antics and corny jokes. Artemis simply smiled as she watched her daughter slowly but surely become that ball of shining light again. If everything goes well from now on, she knew the future would look bright. Fate was simply testing her patience—her faith in herself and those she loved—as if preparing her for an even more tragic event. For now, she would put these thoughts at the back of her mind and enjoy what moments she could. That's all she could afford to do now.

Once the food was gobbled down (mostly due the Speedsters due to their extra-high metabolisms) M'gann decided to cheer the mood up by playing a little bit of Just Dance VI. Although in 2017 playing games on the Wii console was a bit retro (according to Impulse), it still had the same fun effect which was definitely needed at the moment.

"So what song do you want to dance to first?" M'gann asked Liana.

"Um, I don't know. I can't see the titles of the songs."

M'gann mentally kicked herself for forgetting Liana's eyesight was nonexistent. So she read the titles out to the little seven-year old and she picked out a pop song released back in 2014, titled Timber. It was said to be a medium-level song and up to four people could dance, so Liana paired with M'gann, and Tim with Cassie. As the song started, everyone already saw who was rocking the game and who barely had any skills for dancing at all. Liana, though she couldn't see, aced every move and shocked everyone with her kick-butt dance moves. Tim, despite being the young detective he is, was falling heads over heels, missing more than half the moves. But hey, you got to give him credit for trying (though everyone knows he probably just joined in to be with Cassie).

Leaving them to let out their inner dancers, Artemis made her way to the Infirmary where Black Canary and Green Arrow still were. As she made her way down the corridor, the spotted Wally standing outside the door, face looking slightly glum. When he heard her footsteps, his eyes met hers.

"Hey."

"Hey. Get a good lunch?"

She shrugged. "I guess. Did you eat anything yet?"

"Yup."

They averted eyes and chose to stare at the floor instead, which seemed to be the main attraction lately. Silence choked them of words as they entered their realm of thoughts, unsure of what to say to one another. Artemis guessed that Wally would've felt betrayed that she didn't tell him the truth about her family. But he wasn't the only one who didn't know. No one else knew about her secret family—even her father or sister. Her mom knew, but kept her lips sealed. So the ultimate question Wally had to ask himself was if he could still trust her. Wally on the other hand wondered like everyone else did—how did she keep such information so secret and how did it all start. And the fact that she's already married to someone else…does that mean she was using him as a means of relief, a plaything that was meant to be thrown away later on? Wally wanted to make assumptions, but calculating everything she had told him thus far, he felt as though he couldn't really put the blame all on her. Maybe it's because he's still in love with her. Maybe it's because their love—what they had—was real. Or it could be because she's a really good liar and manipulator and if that's the case, Wally was still stupidly in love with the archer. But he wasn't really keen on the idea of Artemis being in love with two men. She had a daughter to raise, and now a husband to tend to and rehabilitate. What good would he be in her life? And even if Artemis accepted him, would her daughter?

Wally's and Artemis's train of thoughts were interrupted when Green Arrow poked his head out of the door.

"Artemis, he's awake. And he'd like to see you."

The heroine archer nodded, then slipped into the room silently all the meanwhile clutching her wolf bone necklace tightly, if not desperately.

She walked up to the bed, where her husband laid, breathing and sipping at a cup of cool water. Her grey orbs met his golden topaz ones and in a flash (no Flash references intended) she was all over him, hugging tightly and showering kisses on his face and lips.

"Oh God, Raye, we truly thought we lost you…" She tried to choke back the tears, but they came anyways.

Raye continued to hold her tightly, stroking her golden blonde hair to calm his wife's sobbing. "I thought I was a goner too, but it seems my time isn't up just yet, thank goodness." A shimmer of tears filled his eyes as he kissed his wife's cheek affectionately. Being so close to death scared the living hell out of Raye, and he would do anything to keep from experiencing such horrific tragedy once again, though he knew Fate didn't always play very nice. For now, he was alive and well again. He could again be with this family.

"So where's our little tsítsho?" he said looking around the room.

"She's playing Just Dance with the Team", Artemis told him, grasping his hand tightly.

Raye let out a little laugh. "Liana always loved those games. She's a natural at it."

"RAKÉ:NI!" a young voice rang out. A wisp of brown sped through the door and suddenly Liana was hugging her father, crying tears of joy on his shoulder. Raye simply hugged his baby girl tightly and kept kissing her forehead lovingly.

Artemis looked at the door and saw Wally leaning against the door frame, a smirk on his face. Before turning to her family, she mouthed with a smile, "Thank you."

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A/N: This story corresponds with The Temptation That Drives Us, but I decided to skew the plot somewhat and therefore change the storyline and what not. I had the urge to write this today and I'm actually quite content with this chapter. Though I know I'll be leaving you fellow readers with quite a few questions (feel free to add them to your reviews). If I get at least 3 reviews, I'll post the next chapter next Monday.

And here are some words and their English translation:

-Raké:ni (Mohawk) Father

-Mẹ (Vietnamese) Mother

-tsítsho (Mohawk) Fox


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